Dad Gets 25 Years For Microwaving Baby

Joshua Mauldin Severely Burned Infant Daughter; Texas Jury Rejects Insanity Claim

(AP)  A jury sentenced a young father to 25 years in prison for severely burning his infant daughter after putting her in a microwave and turning it on for up to 20 seconds.

Joshua Mauldin was teary-eyed after hearing the sentence Wednesday. His mother sobbed loudly in the courtroom.

The jury had convicted Mauldin on Tuesday of felony injury to a child, rejecting his claims that he was insane when he put his daughter Ana in the microwave last year.

Prosecutors had wanted him sentenced to the maximum of life in prison. Still, Galveston County prosecutor Xochitl Vandiver said she was satisfied with the sentence.

"I feel Ana will be well into adulthood when her father (is paroled) and that in and of itself is a great thing," she said.

"It's extremely important for people to know that just because this case was sensational, it doesn't mean that (child abuse) goes away," she said. "Child abuse is an important issue. It should be focused on."

Sam Cammack III, Mauldin's attorney, had asked jurors to consider his client's long history of mental illness and sentence him to probation so he could be treated at a hospital.

"He still doesn't get the treatment for mental illness that he needs," Cammack said. "He's not going to get that in prison."

Jurors deliberated for 6 1/2 hours over two days before sentencing Mauldin. They also fined him $10,000.

Prosecutors said Mauldin hurt his daughter because he was angry that he was in a loveless marriage. They also said Mauldin had a history of violence and of lying about being mentally ill to get out of trouble.

Mauldin claimed he started hallucinating when he was left alone in a Galveston hotel room with his daughter, feeling like mud was running up his body and consuming him.

Just before putting her in the room's microwave, he punched the then 2-month-old child and placed her in the room's safe and refrigerator.

Mauldin at first told police his daughter had been severely sunburned, later changing his story and saying he had accidentally spilled hot water on her while making coffee.

Ana suffered second- and third-degree burns to her left ear, cheek, hand and shoulder and required two skin grafts. Part of her left ear had to be amputated.

After the sentence was handed down, Joanie Mauldin insisted her son was insane and blamed herself for not getting her son help and for Ana's injuries.

"I pray he gets help. But I don't see it happening in a penitentiary," she said, insisting her son loved his daughter. "Nobody in their right mind would cook a child."

Before Joshua Mauldin was taken away, Ana's foster mother, Heather Croxton, told him during an emotional victim impact statement about the pain he's caused his daughter.

"There is no excuse for your actions and I hate that one day you will be set free and allowed to move on with your life while Ana continues to pay for your actions," Croxton told Mauldin, who will be eligible for parole after he serves half his sentence.

"I hope that somehow you pay for what you have done to this innocent, beautiful baby girl," she said.

Croxton, whose husband is a step-cousin to the girl's mother, Eva Mauldin, said she hopes to adopt Ana.

A trial to terminate the Mauldins' parental rights is scheduled for April. Eva Mauldin refused defense attorneys' requests to testify and lives in Arkansas.

[honestabe8]

janke: do you think drugs would cause someone to do such a thing?

[libsrweak]

I would like to share this little snippet...

"Just before putting her in the room''s microwave, he punched the then 2-month-old child and placed her in the room''s safe and refrigerator. "

for some reason these words echoes in my mind...thinking the horror this man is capable of inflicting on someone who is so defenseless and innocent..ITS PURE EVIL AND IT MUST BE DESTROYED!

[wolf77creek]

The mother of this child is as guilty and as insane as he is and should be locked up too. Sounds like his mother never did anything to get him help but now it is our fault that he will go to jail instead of getting the mental help she never got for him. Funny how these people are never to blame for their actions. If the laws were changed so that all persons parolled with crimes against children etc went to live at the homes of the judges and jury members we might see some changes in the convictions of these people.

[jerr11]

25 years?

Sounds harsh to me.

I suggest we put this sicko in a microwave and give him his 2 minutes too.

[mommyhewes]

Dad gets 25 years for microwaving baby! You know the truth is with the way our prison systems are he''ll probably get killed in there- and I certainly won''t be feeling sorry for him. As a parent suffering with chronic mental illness it makes me sick to think he uses the excuse of being "mentally ill" to try and get out of trouble. The only positive to this story is that baby Ana is with a family who truly loves her now,and I can think of no one who deserves it more.

[newsterl]

"They also fined him $10,000. "

WOW a whole $10,000 fine? interesting thing is I suppose the STATE gets that money not the victim or family.

"because he was angry that he was in a loveless marriage. "

Whose fault was THAT? should have stayed SINGLE.

"After the sentence was handed down, Joanie Mauldin insisted her son was insane and blamed herself for not getting her son help and for Ana''s injuries. "

A bad genetic seed, maybe she should be examined too.

"I pray he gets help. But I don''t see it happening in a penitentiary," she said,

Who cares what he gets or doesnt, he will be in JAIL for at least the next 25 years and come out old, jobless, friendless, momless and broke.

Taylpatr, you are an imbecile. The top 1% of TAXPAYERS (I doubt you''ve ever paid a dime), pay 60% of ALL income taxes. They also own companies that CREATE JOBS (something else I''d bet you know nothing about). But no matter how fascinating it is to ponder how you learned to read and write, what really boggles the mind is how such a convoluted mind can find a link between the above issues and the subhuman piece of detritus that brutalized that innocent child. Get a life you whining ***!

[providence_-2009]

Dad Gets 25 Years For Microwaving Baby! This is just a heart wrenching story for the relatives and the community around them. The poor girl did not have to have this done. He should go to jail for life. He does realize his problem in the community. One idea he could of done is to go to http colon slash slash pilgrimswaylighted dot blogspot dot com do not add the www at all. Let me know what you think ok by the voting tab. May God bless the relatives and the people involved in this tragedy.

[jesterbelle]

Put him in the general population.

[taylpatr]

Sounds like someone spent their youth with their nose in a bag of spray paint. And of course there is no help for the mentally ill, even if it is self inflicted. There is no help for anyone in this country anymore. Anyone except the top 1% that are benefitting from Bush''s tax breaks. Incarceration is big business these days, so sending him to prison is good for the economy. And with the Democrats acting like a bunch of little kids, we are setting up another republican yes man to swoop in on the election and twist it into another regime bent on screw*ng the little man some more. This case is a good example of how bad this system is getting. This idiotic peice of white trash is just a product of a society in decline. And we owe it all to the giant money people who are bent on getting rid of 80% of the worlds population, the top 1% that are the beneficiaries of the trickle down theory. The problem is that the only thing trickleing down on the rest of us is trickling down the backs of our legs. Go figure. Good night, America. Will the last one alive please turn out the lights?